Located

The Small Grass-yellow Butterfly is found in all states and territories of Australia. Atlas of Living Australia

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"The Small Grass-yellow is tolerant of colder climes and is the only (species of the tropical yellow butterfly family) that regularly ventures into the temperate latitudes of Australia. However, it is unable to survive the winter in these areas. It is a strong migrant, and every spring, numbers of these butterflies will fly south from northern breeding grounds helped by the hot northerly winds that occur at that time. During these migrations, they will stop for nothing except nightfall or colder weather, but once stopped in an area they will mope around, feeding from flowers or look for their larval hostplants. Once the hot winds start again, then off they will fly with the wind to whichever direction the wind is blowing."

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Appearance

"The wingspan (of the Small Grass-yellow) is about 30 mm. The upper surfaces of the wings are yellow with a black band around the edge, and a black dot near the middle. The undersides are yellow with variable brown markings."Atlas of Living Australia

 

The Small Grass-yellow egg is "initially white, later turning yellowish, long spindle-shaped with numerous very fine indistinct vertical ribs, and with the height slightly more than thrice the diameter, the lower half tapering to a flat base, the upper half tapering to a blunt point. Laid singly on the green parts of the hostplant, usually on the leaves. Females tend to lay eggs on very small, young plants. In the southern areas, eggs hatch in about 7-11 days during spring." Roger Grund 

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The caterpillar is green with a yellow line along each side, and a darker green line along the back and grows to 18-22 mm. Coffs Harbour Butterfly House "The larvae are extremely well camouflaged on the hostplant and very difficult to detect. The larval duration in southern areas is about 4-6 weeks." Roger Grund 

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The pupa is held by cremaster and girdle to a stem of the food plant. It has a length of about 1.5 cms. Coffs Harbour Butterfly House

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Diet

The small grass-yellow caterpillar's preferred hostplant is Senna artemisioides. The larvae usually eat the softer green parts of the hostplants including young seedpods, and will sometimes eat the flowers."  Roger Grund

 

"It has been found feeding on plants in CAESALPINIACEAE including: Pudding Pie Tree ( Cassia fistula ), Jewelled Cassia ( Senna coronilloides ), Kolomana ( Senna gaudichaudii ) - as well as plants in MIMOSACEAE such as

Australian Native Sensitive Plant ( Neptunia gracilis ) and Cyclops Neptunia ( Neptunia monosperma )." Coffs Harbour Butterfly House

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